Today, Wednesday 12th April, the Minister for Communications Denis Naughten TD has officially opened a state-of-the-art studio at TV3 headquarters in Ballymount, Dublin. TV3 also announce the return of their weekend News service and new Limerick News Studio.

Originally built in 1998, 'Studio One' at TV3 Television Centre has been completely refurbished with High Definition technology and new transmission equipment including cameras, vision and audio desks and graphics suites.

The modernisation of 'Studio One' is part of an extensive investment programme in TV3 by Virgin Media. The investment programme, which has already seen the upgrade of Studio Two and the installation of a new transmission system will support the development of 3News Ireland, TV3's new centralised News Hub.

TV3 also announced that it is to open a regional News studio in Limerick. Situated at Virgin Media's National Contact Centre in Roxboro, the studio will provide a base for 3News Midwestern Reporter, Eric Clarke, to cover Limerick, Tipperary, Clare and surrounding counties. The new Limerick studio, combined with TV3's facility in Cork, means the South and Midwest of Ireland are now fully covered by regional reporters and correspondents, dedicated to delivering News stories from these areas.

From May 6th weekend News will return to TV3 with 3News bulletins broadcast at 5.30pm every Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays.

Denis Naughten TD, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment formally opened 'Studio One' at a ceremony in TV3 Television Centre.

Speaking at the opening, Minister Naughten said: "TV3 is highly regarded nationally and internationally for producing top-quality indigenous Irish content which is vital to the industry, to audiences and to our country. High Definition (HD) Television has now become the norm and is expected by viewers. The availability of two HD studios at TV3 is a hugely significant step forward for Irish television and will only add to TV3's well established credibility and reputation as a significant force in Irish broadcasting."

Pat Kiely, TV3 Group Managing Director, said: "These are exciting times for TV3. We are growing our TV channels business, increasing our content production and future-proofing our distribution to reflect the growing platform opportunities we now serve.

“In this golden age of TV, quality originated programming will help TV3 compete against increasing competition and our new facilities will help us deliver the highest standards of production and picture quality.”